The problem of children or pets left in vehicles under heat stress conditions has rightly received significant attention. In many states it is illegal to leave occupants in a car under conditions that may result in significant heat stress. Often merely cracking a window is inadequate to protect occupants, e.g., parked in direct sunlight. Every year, dozens of lives are lost because of heat exhaustion that could have been prevented had appropriate warnings or actions been initiated in time.
Systems are available in some high end cars to turn on a vent fan at a certain time of day, e.g., so that the driver can enter a pre-cooled vehicle. However, these systems are incapable of recognizing a heat stress condition or of taking appropriate actions to mitigate heat stress to a vehicle occupant.
In Dunlin (U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,622) hot vehicle systems are described, e.g., wherein persons are detected by seat sensors, but there is no direct detection of the person's condition.
In view of the above, we see a need for systems that gather sensor inputs and determine appropriate actuator outputs, e.g., depending on the condition of the occupants. We believe benefits could also be realized through systems that make an evaluation of the heat or cold stress condition of occupants in consideration of actions to be taken. The present invention provides these and other features that will be apparent upon review of the following.